Fidelity Insurance settles post-Ivan claims

Tom Gammage, Fidelity’s
Regional Marketing Manager

Wednesday,  December 22, 2004

Out of 1,600 insurance claims post-Ivan, Fidelity has settled 95 percent of motor insurance and 80 percent of homeowner claims, beating the industry average.

“We were fully operational within 72 hours of Ivan,” said Tom Gammage, Regional Marketing Manager of Fidelity Insurance. “Our staff worked long hours, over and above what you would expect in normal circumstances, when they also had their own losses from Ivan. Many people on the staff were working 7 am to 10 pm, limited only by the curfew.”

Mr Gammage added that looking forward to 2005, the demand for new policies was soaring after receiving an overwhelmingly positive response from the community in the company’s handling of post-Ivan claims. 

“We recognize it is a difficult time for people right now and the cost of insurance will probably be going up in 2005,” said Mr Gammage, “so we devised an effective way of spreading insurance payments over a number of months to ease cash flow.”

Fidelity is now offering payment options for insurance premiums over 10 months instead of the usual practice of two to three months.

To further assist clients, Fidelity has extended office hours to 8:30 am to 5 pm for the remainder of the year and they are actively seeking additional staff.

Dale Edwards, Vice President of Fidelity Insurance, explained how Fidelity was so prepared. 

“Prior to the beginning of the hurricane season, we updated our Hurricane Recovery Plan to include data recovery back-up systems and other business continuity measures. 

This ensured we were fully operational and open for business within 72 hours of Hurricane Ivan’s passing.” 

Additionally, Fidelity brought in extra resources from other divisions of the group to supplement its Cayman insurance staff.

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